Parker's Island (50 page)

“Why?”
h
e asked, not giving
me
an inch.

“If I stayed
,
you would have lost everything.”

“I did lose everything
,
” h
e said, and touched my cheek with his hand.

“She took it all
,
anyway?” I asked, horrified.

“Delaney, what are you talking about?  Martina? I told you, she can’t hurt me.  She can have it all
, everything
.  I don’t care.  All I want is you
, and
our
baby!
”

“So
,
I left and she took it all from you
,
anyway
?
!
  How could she do that?”
I said, the tears starting.

“Delaney,
how many times do I have to tell you
?  Y
ou’re the only thing that matters to me
!
  When you left, I lost
the only thing
I can’t live without
,
”
h
e hugged me and then started to kiss me
,
but I pulled away, knowing
if I let him kiss me,
I would give in.

“What is it?  I need to know what happened.  I told you to trust me; that I’d be back.  Did you really think I’d believe that
stupid
letter?”

I refused to answer him.  His father’s image kept flashing through my mind, telling me that I was the one that was hurting Logan.

“Delaney
,
t
alk to me, please
!
  What happened?
”
h
e begged me to tell him, but I refused.

I closed my eyes and hugged his shirt to me.

“
Please tell me
,
”
h
e said, and sighed.

I stared at the wall, refusing to speak.

“Delaney, tell
him, or I will
!
”
m
y aunt said from the doorway.

I snapped my head toward
the door and
glared
at my aunt
.

“I won’t watch you do this to yourself, or him
,
any longer.  You tell him what his father said to you, or so help me
,
Delaney Marie
Miller
, I will.”

“My father?” h
e sighed and said, “
Well t
hat explains a lot.”  He stood up then and walked to the window.  “So he was the one that convinced you to leave.  I should have known when I saw the glass of juice on the counter.
  You never leave anything…
”
 
He didn’t say anything for a few minutes
; h
e just stood there, staring out the window. 
“
Did he ask for vodka?”
he
finally
asked, t
r
ying
anything to
get me to talk.

“Yes
,
”
I whispered.

“What did he
tell you
,
Delaney?”

I knew I had to tell him or my aunt would
make good on her promise
.  “H
e said that if you were caught…
cheating on Martina, then s
he could take everything from you.  You’d lose it all, the company, the island and your trust fund.  That she’d burn the island before she
’d
ever let you set foot on it again.”

He turned to face me,
“And you believed him?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because
, he’d
say anything to save his own skin.
  He wants the company
,
Delaney
.  H
e needs it.  I don’t!
  He ruined that company
.  H
e’s selfish and arrogant and I’m sorry he came anywhere near you.
”

“That wasn’t all he said
,
” I said, looking away.

“What else?
  What other lies did he tell you?
”

“He said that
your
paternity test
would come back
…
positive.”

“Delaney, you know I never
touched Martina!  I swear it.”
             
“I know
,
” I said, closing my eyes.

“
Then
I’m confused. 
How could it possibly
come back positive?”

“Because
your DNA i
s
very similar…
to his.”

He laughed then.  “Well,
then
I guess the jokes on him
this time
.”

“
Why?”

“Delaney, she had the baby and the DNA couldn’t possibly match either of us.”
             
“But he was so sure.  I believed him.”
             
“He probably thought it was true.
He probably
did sleep with her.
”

“But the baby’s not his?”

“No, definitely not
,
”
h
e grinned
,
again.

“Why are you smiling
?”
  I
asked
, not finding any
of it
the least bit humorous.

“She was wrong on the dates
,
Delaney
.  T
he baby is
very obviously

H
ispanic
and
Asian
.”

“
Asian? 
But h
e was so sure
of himself.  He made me doubt us
…
doubt
you
.  I’m
so
sorry.”

“He won’t ever come between us again, I promise you that.”
             
“But she still w
o
n
.  S
he t
ook
it all from you and I can’t live with that.”

“Delaney, she signed the papers.  She didn’t take anything.
  I told you that I would take care of it.  I don’t give a damn about the money, the company or the island.  It wouldn’t have mattered.  I love you
;
you and the baby.  You’re all I need.
  But she didn’t take anything…
her father had some say in it
when he found out
that she had lied about the baby
, but in the end
, she just did what was right.  Delaney, I swear to you, it wouldn’t have mattered if she took
everything
, but she didn’t and now I can spend the rest of my life spoiling you both!
”

“But you said you lost everything?”

“I did
,” he said, while sitting down next to me, “
I lost you
,
”
he said, stroking my cheek with the back of his hand.

I looked into his eyes and knew it was true.
  He didn’t care about any of it
.  H
e loved me unconditionally.  I called my aunt into the room
, certain she was standing right outside the door, listening to every word
.

“Yes
,
honey?”
s
he said
, looking very sheepish and wondering if she was in huge trouble
.

“Aunt Vickie, would you take this
,
please
?
I don’t need it anymore
.”
  I handed her the shirt
that
I’d hel
d onto for months and
I
kissed
him
,
elated to finally be home, in Logan’s arms.

Later that day I thanked my aunt
for calling Logan
.

“I can’t take the credit for calling him
,
”
m
y aunt said, grinning.

“What do you mean?”

“Delaney, he never left.  He followed the ambulance here.  He’s been staying in town
, keeping an eye on you
.
  He was staying two houses down from mine.
”

“You knew that and
you
didn’t tell me?”  I asked my aunt.

“
I didn’t know
at first, but I ran into him…
a few weeks back,” she grinned, knowing she was probably in trouble with me again.

I turned to Logan,
“You never left?  Even after all of the horrible things I said to you?”

“I can’t honestly say I wasn’t hurt by what you said, but I knew deep down it wasn’t true.  I knew eventually you’d come to your senses.  But it was killing me staying away from you.”

“I thought I was doing the right thing.  I thought I was hurting you by staying.  Your father is very convincing
.
”

“Y
es, he can be very persuasive.
  Delaney, I promise you that he will never come between us again.
 
Now, you need to p
romise me that you’ll talk to me before you listen
to anything he says.
”
             
“I know
better now…
he can’t scare me off again.  I c
an’t possibly live without you…
and I’m never going to leave you again.”

“I’ll never let you go.”

Chapter
Fifteen:
A New
Life

Dr. Grey released me from the hospital two days later with strict orders of bed rest.  I had just a little over three weeks before the baby wa
s due and I wanted to go home…
to the island.

“Why don’t you both just stay with us until the baby comes?”
m
y mom pleaded.

“I love you Mom, I do, but I want to go home.  And my home is with Logan.”

“
But when am I going to see you again
?”
m
y mom asked.

“You have
an open invitation at our home,
Sarah.
  You’re welcome anytime!
” Logan told my mom.

“Thank you.  So I can come when you have the baby?”

“You can come now if you’d like
,
”
h
e said,
sincerely
.

“
I think you two need some time
alone.  But I’d love to come and help with the baby.”

“You’re being
very
understanding of everything
,
M
om
.  T
hank you
,
”
I said, not sure what prompted this new and improved version of the mother I once had.

“Why wouldn’t I be?  He makes you happy and he loves you
,
”
s
he said,
hugging Logan.  He smiled and I knew he was so happy
to be
accepted
by my family
.

“But, you don’t mind that we’ll be…living together?”  Making certain she knew that we were sharing more than a platonic relationship.

“
Why should I? 
You
’re really in no condition for…
anything
,
right now
,
anyway
,
”
s
he blushed at her own statement.

I
leaned over and
whispere
d in Logan’s ear, “Wanna bet?” h
e almost choked on his drink.

“You are getting married soon, right?”
s
he asked, raising her eyebrows
with a
knowing
grin
.
  Now
this
was the mother I remembered.